slightly higher elevations. so blizzard warning nefect from tomorrow afternoon through early sunday morning. through the entire area. off to the west the winter storm warnings. the difference between the two is that in the blizzard warning area the local extended area the winds will be bigger feature here. let me give you an idea when it starts. southern maryland area, stafford, spotsylvania, blizzard warning begins at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. in the metro at 3:00 p.m. the northern zone toward the pennsylvania line begins at 6:00. the predominance of the snow will move from southwest to northeast during the day. as far as what is going to happen alert wise as we head through the entire time we will find the heaviest snowfall accumulations metro area north and west. even though they are only under a warning. again the key here are the winds. it's when the snow will begin we believe noon to 3:00 southwest of the metro area. 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. in the area shaded. later going north and east. probably 5 centre, after sunset the baltimore, metro to

wilmington, delaware. plenty of snow coming our way. everything is on track with the storm. it is still getting its act together but it has an incredible moisture tapped in the gulf of mexico. tornado warning, thunderstorm warning, active storm center that will make a move like this off the coast getting stronger as it goes. especially getting stronger when it reaches the coastline. that is why the winds will be a big factor here. wind gusts locally over 40 to 45 miles per hour. so this future cast model shows the snow moving in steadily from the north and west. you see the snow extremely heavy in the overnight hours. heavy rain and sleet on the southern fringes of the system. this depicts the heaviest snow midday saturday as north and west of washington. other models have the heaviest snow overhead. you won't miss it. when we measure the snowfall one to two feet a few inches here and there doesn't matter. we have to know what we are thinking inches wise, this is what is laid out. highest elevation to the west, 18 to 25 by the time it ends. 12 to 22 in the metro.

farther east is six to 12. enough warm air will change it to sleet in many areas and tamp down the accumulation totals. even in those areas the high winds which will be worse will make for treacherous situations all day saturday and saturday night. even into sunday morning. this is the kind of storm not much we can do about it. hopefully given you enough notice ahead of time and we're with you during the storm and will be here when it and sunday when it ends as well. back to steve rudin in a couple of minutes. jonathan: it will be a long couple of days. we are standing by for a news conference from the metro leader as the transit agency is preparing for the storm. they are coming out. listen to what they'll say about what will happen with the storm. >> paul wiedefeld, general manager of metro. with me is rob, running the rail operation, bob who runs the bus operation and chief. i saw many of you at the mayor's press conference. i said this morning at a

briefing the decisions that we are making are two-fold. on two factors. one is the safety of the customers and the employees. the second is trying to get service back as quickly as we can get it back. with that, closely watching the forecast and receive update regularly from the national weather service. and coordinating with all jurisdictions, partners and the personnel management on behalf of the federal government. as you know the blizzard warning has been issued this afternoon. very serious ise that we are all facing in the region. we expect the impact to last through the weekend and next week. beginning tomorrow at 4:00 p.m., we will activate our emergency operations center. everyone from all of you are key departments will be there to deal with any issues that come up. regarding changes in metro rail, we expect the ridership to be lighter tomorrow given the closings and early dismissals. so you will probably see a

little less rush hour trains in the morning but we'll handle that and react accordingly. service on metro rail from 5:00 to 11:00 p.m. 11:00 p.m. friday the metro system will be closed and remain closed saturday and sunday. once the storm passes metro will protect hundreds of rail cars by storing them in the doubles in this purd -- storing them in the tunnels during this period. we will provide information through media, websites, and the metro at it letter system e-mail and text. the bus service will begin tomorrow, friday, on what we term as a severe snow plan. that plan you can find on the website. wmata.com. basically under that program we will be providing service

on major corridors throughout the region. only on those corridors. the limited bus service trouble in daylight hours and assure the customers employees are not stranded. we pronounce service in the morning that we cannot have it in the afternoon due to the storm. we will put out what e can deliver and make sure that we get people home we sent out. bus service will be suspended at 5:00 p.m. tomorrow. the last wases depart at 5:00 p.m. and after that the service will be suspended as well on saturday and sunday. finally, for safety reasons metro access service, our door-to-door service for riders with disabilities will be suspended tomorrow after 6:00 p.m. to prevent anyone from being stranded. we will not begin any outbound trip after 1:00 p.m. we i'll get people to

pointments and get them back. we have been working hard in the last week with planning and staging equipment and working through the details of the plan going forward. we kept it on track to make sure we have all the personnel available that we will need to keep the system, get the system back up running as quickly as possible. to put it in perspective, we have 130 miles of the track. we have 50 above ground stations. imagine moving two foot of snow off the tracks and off the stations. i encourage everyone to sign up for metro alerts to give you free e-mail and text notification to give you up to date information. final comment we definitely understand the importance that metro plays in the region for the entire region but it's our responsibility to make sure our customers are treated and transported safely and the employees are safe and we recover as quickly as

possible. i'll be glad to take any questions you may have. [inaudible question] we did, yes. the question was did we consider keeping undergoing service going? we did. a few things. one with the blizzards and high winds there's concern of a power loss. we would not want power loss in the underground tunnels. we are using our resources and also other emergency metro resources that will come down in the tunnels if the power is lost. that is a real possibility. the other thing is an opportunity to shelter the equipment to get up and running quicker. you can imagine with all that equipment outside, you are going to be digging out all the cars so this will give us a leg up in doing that. [inaudible question] paul: sure, metro rail will shut down tomorrow evening at 11:00 p.m. okay? it will shut down saturday and

sunday. metro bus will shut down tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. and remain shut down for saturday and sunday. with buses, a little caveat because a bus may have left at 4:50. if it is leaving, it is completing its route. then it basically returns back to the yards. [inaudible question] paul: sure, a blizzard. that's what is driving it. we do not want to put our customers out there and leave them stranded in conditions that we're all expecting. reporter: a lot of folks are expected to rely on the underground. what else will work saturday and sunday? [inaudible question] paul: i think across the board you have seen the jurisdictions recommend that people not travel. think you will continue to hear that.

so again, it's if we get people out there and leave them stranded that is a worst option. so it's important to get out early and let them know what they can and cannot do. we've been transplant -- transparent about that. [inaudible question] paul: we are still several hours away from that so we'll just monitor that. what the conditions are and react as it plays out. [inaudible question] paul: right now we have equipment staged there. people that will clean it. that's what we do. shovel them out. [inaudible question] paul: i do not know. >> service ended about 10:00. we had all the vehicles in by midnight. anytime after 10:00, bus service. the determination was made we

had 100 vehicles out so small amount of routes were still in service operation at that time. [inaudible question] paul: right. exactly. just like everyone else, we'll work through as hard as we can. the plan hereis to use sunday as a clean-up day. let's see how the storm plays out first. [ inaudible question ] paul: the jurisdiction is doing that. mayor is shutting down the central employees at noon tomorrow. that will play out through the whole region. [inaudible question]

jonathan: test for paul wiedefeld, the new general manager of metro saying that metro service will be suspended as of 5:00 tomorrow evening and stay shut down until they have a chance to assess how much snow they have to move off the tracks before the trains can be smoothly running again. and safely. the worst part he is concerned about is keeping people getting trapped on the trains because of the snow. the rail system will shut down again tomorrow at 11:00 in the evening. if you want an update, we'll have all the information for you throughout the evening. michelle: the last thing they want to see happen is have passengers stranded and have workers, you know, not able to come in to service, train and the buses. so that is why they are taking as much extreme steps to make sure everyone stays safe.

one good thing so far is that this storm has been well forecast. plenty of advance warning here. jonathan: that is what you need. this is coming. you need to prepare for it now. when it starts is not the time to be outside or on the roads. let the storm pass. as the storm does near us, hardware stores, grocery stores, name it. they have had trouble keeping up with the demand for supplies and food. suzanne kennedy is in bethesda. long lines again this afternoon. if you are heading out and prep you have to make sure you bring your patience. suzanne: you absolutely do. take a look here at the safeway in bethesda. look to my left and you can see every single register is open here at this store. this is more than they actually have open on the day before thanksgiving. all these people coming in to grab what they will need and anticipate they will be snowed in. what do they buy? people go through the store shelves and are picking up

bottled water, batteries and even toilet paper. hardware stores have run out of shovels and salt. they are trying to get it in and satisfy the customers' needs. this store is open 24 hours. they anticipate it will be a steady stream just as it is here now. we can tell you they have been able to keep up with many of the needs of the customers. but i can tell you right now that one customer told me that the bread aisle, i checked 25 minutes ago, is pretty much empty. if you are going to go out, get out early, make a list and get everything you need for the weekend. reporting live, suzanne kennedy, abc7 news. michelle: thank you. state and county leaders are bracing for this weekend's snowstorm. maryland governor larry hogan and virginia governor terry mcauliffe declared a state of emergency for friday and saturday. ups of crews are expected to work around the clock to battle the storm.

>> i want all marylanders to know they are ready and working together to respond effectively. >> we are ready. we will have 13,000 pieces of equipment out. 2,500 crew members will be out. we have plenty of salt. we have 650,000 tons of salt. over a million tons of liquid salt. michelle: by declaring states of emergency both governors authorize state agencies to quickly identify and provide resources when needed. jonathan: we heard the press conference with paul wiedefeld, the general manager of metro. train service shut down at 11:00. bus service stops at 5:00. this is the reason why. what we saw last night. it was a mess on the roads. some wonder if this was bad last night what will the big one be like? some commutes took eight to nine hours last night. others left their cars on the side of the road, abandoned them and walked. >> i'm on my way to work. usually takes me 20, 25

minutes. i've been on the roads for five hours last night. jonathan: last night, jay korff was in the interstate in the middle of the lane talking with drivers in the nightmare commute because nobody was moving. coming up for us, jay will join us on set with more. including a father who walked his toddler back to a metro station instead of waiting in their car. michelle: rough night for so many. what became clear last night, across the board, the d.c., virginia, maryland road crews were not ready. what is unclear is why? we have more with d.c. mayor bowser's apology for today. sam? sam: we are at one of the city snow centers. parade of people are coming by for the shovels that the mayor has been distributing for volunteers to help the elderly and disabled during the blizzard. she showed off the new shovels

and the volunteers talked about how prepared the city was for the upcoming blizzard. she must have been embarrassed last night after an inch of snow froze on the street and caused rush hour commute that normally take minutes to take hours. along suitland parkway, some abandoned cars were there this afternoon. she read an apology. mayor bowser: i want to say first and foremost to the residents of the district of columbia that we are very sorry for inadequate response. we believe we did not provided a quite resources. >> the apology was well needed. it was terrible out here last night. sam: we notice the mayor's car stayed outside the public works office at the salt dome for more than an hour after

the news conference had ended. we will be back here at the reed center in an hour with the information on the number of actions that the mayor is taking in response to the blizzard. and the actions will take place tomorrow. reporting live from northwest washington, sam ford, abc7 news. jonathan: thank you. it wasn't just the district that saw major problems. the pain was widespread. vdot and maryland plows scrambled to action but they had trouble getting to the worst spots because they were already jammed with the cars on the roads. they couldn't treat the roads because they were frozen. kevin lewis has the outrage after one inch of snow paralyzed the area and beyond. there were angry people. i was a dangerous situation. kevin: absolutely. on both of the fronts. we are at 495 and connecticut avenue. the scene last night parking lot status. cars bumper to bumper. like you said, it was all because of less than one inch

of snow. unbelievable. the public consensus sure seems to be no local jurisdiction did an adequate job pressing roads before last evening's snowfall. montgomery county alone dispatched 463 emergency calls. just last evening. during a press conference this afternoon, montgomery county leaders patted themselves on the back contending their salt and brine trucks did a thorough and good job. when asked about the maryland state highway administration performance, county executive had this to say. >> we work in cooperation with the state. we are trying to get them to maximize the efforts to the level of montgomery county. i don't think they have quite gotten there but they do a good job. keep in mind they have to cover the entire state. i don't think that they are at the level we would want. we are working with them. kevin: take a look at this. these were the traffic conditions. according to google maps as of

8:21 last night. easily three dozen wrecks. many on the beltway and i-95. coming up at 5:00, i will show you how tow companies fared in what can only be described as one hellish afternoon commute. live along the beltway, in chevy chase, i'm kevin lewis, abc7 news. michelle: all right. so the bottom line is we want to keep you safe and we want you to be the first to know when there is a change in the forecast. or when conditions deteriorate. stay charged and stay connected. all you need is a cig call and battery life. we are live on all platforms before the first place fall through the end of the storm. if the power goes out, you can still stream abc7 newscast. jonathan: the only people that were happy this morning after what happened last night? michelle: tow trucks. jonathan: and those who own body shops. still ahead on "abc7 news at 4:00" -- how emergency crews, hospitals and first responders are preparing for the storm. michelle: the man convicted of

killing three in alexandria more than a decade ago is sentenced. how long charles severance will be locked up. jonathan: plus a big win for neighbors of the "washington post" reporter. jump date to a story we brought you earlier this week. michelle: we are minutes away from an update on the latest storm track. chief meteorologist doug hill and the hardest working weather team is back after the break.

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announcer: this is a storm watch 7 winter weather alert. jonathan: metro general manager paul wiedefeld wrapped up a news conference with a major update on the transit agency blizzard plan. rail and bus service will completely shut down tomorrow. stephen tschida is at metro h.q. with the timing of this. this unprecedented step they are taking because they want to keep people safe. stephen: yeah, exactly, jonathan. i have lived here for decades, been through the big storms like 1996. the first time metro has completely shut down. at 11:00 p.m. tomorrow. 11:00 p.m. friday. metro rail will be shutting down. 5:00 p.m. tomorrow, central buses will be shutting down. 1:00 p.m. metro access. even underground, metrorail

will shut down because of concern about the high winds. potentially knocking out power and of course stranding passengers. so as you said unprecedented move from metro. shutting down completely over the weekend, friday through sunday. no word yell, no date when service will resume. reporting live. stephen tschida, abc7 news. michelle: following a story from northwest washington. wisconsin after and glove park. parts of the building collapsed while the construction crew was working. two victims are in critical conditions, the other was injure and is expected to be okay. the cause of the collapse is unknown. jonathan: today was sentencing day for a convicted serial killer. northern vass bureau chief jeff goldberg covered the alexandria murders and charles severance's trial. the conclusion. jeff: charles severance was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences in prison and

48 years for additional charges and $400,000 in fines. before issuing sentence even the judge struggled to hold back tears. once again charles severance started a hearing by yelling. sadism, sadism, he said. followed by a request from the attorney. they made hundreds of statement against my interest. his final words before sentencing. it's lawful to wear weapons. >> defendant has been accountable and exposed for what he is. clever and cowardly murderer. jeff: last november he was convicted to ten charges related to the three murders in alexandria in 2003 and 2014. before issuing the sentence, judge randy bellows expressing sadness over the murders and angry to severance, calling the crew malicious and saying he shattered the lives of the three families. the prosecution echoing the feeling and arguing for the maximum sentence.

prosecution team that included lawyers for the maryland attorney general's office. family members of the victims were hugging and crying in court as the long and painful ordeal had finally come to an end. >> i think families want the move forward. all they wanted was a fair and just trial. >> hopefully they can take comfort knowing that justice was served. and that this killer will never be able to hurt anyone again. jeff: prosecutor cammed on the general assembly to pass reasonable gun control measures saying it was too easy for charles severance to obtain firearms used in the crime. severance has 30 days to appeal. in fairfax, jeff goldberg, abc7 news. michelle: new at 4:00, update on the controversial overnight demolition of the old "washington post" building. today a judge ordered that the afterhours permit be temporarily suspended. the historic building at 15th

and l street in northwest washington is in the process of coming down. but neighbors complain about the round-the-clock noise. another hearing on the case will be held january 29. jonathan: so last night's gridlock is the subject of the twitter poll. after last night's response to snow and the ice, do you feel the local governments are ready for this kind of storm? specifically this weekend's big storm? yes or no? the poll is open. we'll j v an update with results at 4:45 and we'll share the comments. they're classic. thank you for participating. let's talk about the weather now. michelle: if nothing else, hopefully it's a wake-up call we need to take the next round seriously. this is the real deal. doug: we are saying do not go anywhere saturday. oh, they are hyping it! michelle: no hype. doug: you are on your own. you can try it. it is going to be that bad driving conditions around the area because of the rain and the snowfall, reduced visibility and the high winds and accumulation. jonathan: only people should

be on the road is if emergency personnel. that is it. doug: we have had blizzards like this before. we have another one. it's coming tomorrow. start the comments with steve rudin to get us set up. yesterday we talk about the blizzard watch. now a different color. steve: it was all green like this. but now we shifted course. now they have issued blizzard warning for much of the area. it includes the district and arlington and alexandria. all of southern maryland. everything that is shaded in the brighter red. but the further west you go, that is when we have a winter storm warning. not quite as severe. but still a lot of snow to deal with as we move through the coming days. that includes the panhandle of west virginia. that is for the daytime hours. i should say tomorrow evening into the day on saturday. into early, early sunday morning. the on set of the snow. this is when you are likely to see the first flakes start to fall. between noon and 3:00 p.m. around harrisenburg and charlottesville. moving through the midday hours, late an and early evening between 3:00 and 5:00. district of montgomery county,

waldorf, fairfax, arlington, alexandria likely to see the on set for snow. further north and east you go, 5:00 and later this is where you see it develop around annapolis, b.w.i. marshal and up to the philadelphia area. if you have plans to head that way. as far as this everything is concerned no problems at all out there. the skies are a lot of sunshine. the clouds just beginning to increase, to the south and west of us. this is the leading edge of the storm. that is what will arrive here as we move through the daytime hours tomorrow. doug, reminds me of the first blizzard together in 1996. doug: yeah. that was a lot of fun. interesting you bring that up. as far as what it looked like around the d.m.v. and the viewing area for that matter after the blizzard of 1996 ended that is what it will look like around here after this one ends. there is the storm. it is moving east/southeast. tornado watches, a few tornado warning, thunderstorms tapping the gulf for moisture. it will move as we expected. of course, once the storm is in the neighborhood we have to fine tune it.

there will be areas of sleet involved. everybody will get gusty winds and everybody will get heavy snow as well. here is the future cast model. at 1:00 tomorrow afternoon, we will step it through until 3:00 in the afternoon and the snow will be moving in. it starts and then it's steady and heavy. that is what will happen. it will be snowing before you know it. the snow will continue. this is one model we are looking at through tomorrow night. the darker the color, the heavier the snow. overnight, heavy snow. on this particular model as we get through the day on friday it lifts heavier snow to the west. that might be on target here. everybody will continue with the snow. what is interesting to see here is the color changes indicate warmer air will work in. so the areas of the area closer to the warmer air, they will have a big flat heavy snowflakes. drier snow north and west, may get sleet and it may go back and forth. getting late in the afternoon and the everything, enough cold air and even those with sleet will be back to all snow as well. it will pile up. this is what the computer says about the possible wind gusts in the morning. 51-mile-per-hour gusts along

the chesapeake bay. close to 60 gusts along the atlantic beaches. that is why this area is under a blizzard warning and the areas west are not. because the winds will not be as strong there. same snow we are talking but when you get close to the bay and the ocean that's where the highest winds will be. this is what we go with the total forecast by the time it will end sunday morning. 18 to 25 inches. 12 to 22. six to 12 because of the possibility of more sleet than snow. are these final numbers? no. of course it could change a little bit. but we're pretty comfortable going into the storm having that outlook as far as snowfall totals. look what happens once we get past the storm. sunday, sun will be back. look at the highs. 37, 42, 47. so in the daylight hours we'll get start on melting this stuff away. but at night in the 20's. the slush and the mush will refuse. michelle: that is a bit of a kay yot ig -- chaotic situation as well. doug: always is. jonathan: thank you. still ahead for us at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- cars ditched on the side of the road last night are now in

way of the plow that has to pretreat the road. the rush to move cars left from last night's dusting debacle. michelle: we talk about summer concerts.

michelle: hard to believe it's

been a year since larry hogan took up residence at the governor's mansion. january 21, 2015, when he took the oath of office on a showy day in annapolis. fitting that we're now on weather alert here again. he will hold a rally tonight in annapolis to mark the anniversary and he is expected to speak at 7:00. jonathan: maryland senate now has voted to override some of governor larry hogan's vetoes. the senate voted 29-17 to override a bill to decorrallize the possession of marijuana -- decriminalize, the possession of marijuana, and smoking pot in public. they override a veto to ensure the third party travel websites pay all the state sales tax. they postponed a vote on the veto to allow felons to vote on probation. michelle: piano man returning to nats park. it came this morning from the washington nationals and live nation. billy joel will play at the stadium on saturday, july 30. mark your calendars.

he will be the first artist to play at the stadium three times. tickets go on sale january 29. jonathan: so as we prepare for a sizable storm, we are on a weather alert. in the worst of the storm, howling winds and snow are expected to make conditions life-threatening. this is not one to mess around with. there are those who must work through the storm no matter what. hospitals are open, ambulances still has to make runs and how exactly are the emergency service workers getting ready to help you? diane cho is in northwest with the answer. diane? diane: jonathan, hospitals and emergency responders we talked to today say they are preparing for the worst ahead of the storm this weekend. both at medford washington hospital center and virginia hospital center. we're told they have been testing out the generators in case the power goes out and making sure they double up on medical supplies and food. they say they are also planning on having staff stay at the hospital friday if they are working on started in case the conditions get so bad that

they won't be able to drive on the roads to get to work. prince george's county the fire and the e.m.s. department says it will span resources using four-wheel drive jeeps and snowplows owned by the county that will be assigned to them to help respond to emergency calls because the ambulances don't have four-wheel drive. in years past they have seen the community step up to help. >> back in the storm in 2006, which was pretty severe, we were trying to make our way back to the scene of an emergency. a medical emergency. back in the brandywine area. someone came up to the scene on a farm tractor and said hop on. so the medics hopped on with their gear and he brought them with no problem at all. diane: and firefighters also say in case there is a fire at your home this weekend, make sure you clear the area around your nearest fire hydrants so they can access it much quicker. in northwest d.c., diane cho, abc7 news. michelle: while we're getting

ready for a foot of snow or more tomorrow, we are still trying to clean up from last night's snow. we're not just talking about the icy roads. it's what has been pushed to the side. all those abandoned cars. as abc7 sam sweeney show us, they have to go before the big one hits. sam: no matter you look around the d.m.v., there are abandoned cars everywhere. 66, 495, and even with the rock creek parkway to name a few. the snow only accumulated to an inch or two but it paralyzed the d.m.v. on this ramp to 66, drivers told us there was a pileup. cars slipping and sliding. they called police around 9:00 p.m. but were told it would be hours before any help would arrive. around 3:00 a.m., these drivers decided to abandon their cars and walk to the nearest metro. >> i mean there are about 20 cars. cars are still coming down. ping-pong, like hanging out down there.

and then we just got told we'll be charged with a hit-and-run. apparently this was just one big mess of cars. the road was so slippery they couldn't walk on the road. so they just felt like there was nothing they could do other than sleep in the car all night. >> where we are standing all night in arlington along 66, the county says look, we dropped the ball. we were not prepared for the storm. but they have promised to do better when the big storm comes around on friday afternoon. the county says please do not come out and drive during this next storm. but if you have to be out on the road and you find yourself in a fender bender, they say get the other person's information and keep moving as long as there is no injuries. they don't want you to tie up the police or traffic. that is the latest from arlington. i'm sam sweeney, abc7 news. michelle: thank you, sam. still ahead here on abc7 news -- fighting through the traffic last night. jay korff was literally walking in the middle of the i-66 parking lot. coming up, he will join us to

share the frustratn many of you are still feeling. jonathan: here is a live look outside this evening. this is the calm before the storm. on the right side, calm and tranquil. on the left is a map of what is coming our way. we are getting set and we'll have the tra

jonathan: there is no denying last night was a nightmare from top to bottom. in the middle of it all, our own jay korff, one of our reporters was stuck in this traffic. instead of just sitting in the vehicle he got out and started talking to folks. that i want were stuck for hours. everybody has a story to tell about how long it took them to get home last night. it's not often you get to walk out on interstate like that. jay: one of the more bizarre experiences of my career, i got to tell you. we felt and we personally felt the outrage of the people out there. we were stuck at that point for three and a half to four hours. it ended up being in total about six hours. it wasn't just that part of interstate that was a problem. the dulles connector. there were problems on 395 and problems in the district and in maryland. all of those agencies have basically raised their hands today. for the most part, other than vdot. they haven't held themselves

too accountable. they said look, we could have done better last night. jonathan: one of the most telling thing of your live shot you lean down and scratch the surface of the ground saying it's not pretreated. it's just ice. that was infuriated on people. you can't drive on ice. i don't care if it's an s.u.v. or four-wheel drive, ice doesn't go well no matter what. jay: we just talked to vdot and they just got back in touch with us after dodging our questions for most of the day. they said they didn't pretreat because they were concerned about the temperature. licked with magnesium and brine. they were concerned about the lower temperatures and they didn't pretreat until 5:30 and by then it was too late. all of their strucks then got stuck in traffic. right now you will hear an interview from a father we saw literally, he abandoned a vehicle and walked to metro in the snow with his child in his arms, he was that concerned about his safety. >> you are just going to walk to the metro station? >> yes, yes. he is not feeling well and he

is crying continuously. jonathan: scary. jay: this was a disaster. it could have been a lot worse. thankfully nobody was hurt. the road eventually opened up at 1:00, 1:15 in the morning. jonathan: a lot of dinged up cars and hopefully this was a test for everybody. reminder to let you nobly saturdays warnings go into effect tomorrow afternoon for the d.c. metro area. our storm watch 7 team the entire team will have an update on the latest track, potential snow totals and more importantly the impact of this winter storm. stay here with abc7. wow. the internet crazy fast here. i know, right? it's so nice to have everyone over. hi hey. mmm.

i just laid an egg. does anybody want it? joey, you want some gasoline? yes, please. mom, guess what? i married a clown and we're having tiny little clown babies. mhm. i just bought a hammer. with internet fast enough for everyone, your guests might get a bit carried away. get out of the past. get fios. across america, people like badominique wilkins...er ...are taking charge of their type 2 diabetes... ...with non-insulin victoza®. for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar. but it didn't get me to my goal. so i asked my doctor about victoza®. he said victoza® works differently than pills. and comes in a pen. victoza® is proven to lower blood sugar and a1c. it's taken once a day, any time. victoza® is not for weight loss, but it may help you lose some weight. victoza® is an injectable prescription medicine that may improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes

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calvert county and faquier county. you can sign up for the text alert to be notified right away if the child's school will be closed. go to the website wjla.com/text. you can also check all the time. we have the ticker at the bottom of the screen. also we will all be coming back to the live desk anytime with updates. we'll head back to the studio now. michelle? michelle: thank you. some people might dread the snow. one photographer is capturing the beauty. check that out. take a look at this picture of a snowflake under a microscope. that look like a snowman, actually. all right. this snow-related creation. i was looking at a different script here. check out the tiny snowman the

photographer took a note of it near the steps of the jefferson memorial in washington. it was made from last night's snowfall. make a bigger one after we get the blizzard. we want to see your blizzard of 2016 pictures. e-mail them to us at pics@wjla.com. that is pics@wjla.com. you can also use #blizzard2016 on the social media platforms and watch abc7 news. we might share the photos. jonathan: steve, you really want to tell the folks at home now is the time to get out and do anything you need to get done now. do not dough it when the snow hits. steve: i went to the gym and folks were saying how much time do i have tomorrow? can i get things done at 8:00? you are pushing it. this is the timeline we have set up for you. friday morning to midday. no problems at all. if you want to head to the supermarket, it will be really busy. but by friday evening, the roadways the sidewalks are going to rapidly deteriorate. by saturday at that point you

had better stay inside. sunday is when we start to see the big dig-out around here. it could take quite some time. upgrade the blizzard area. all the area in red. further west less winds but still significant snow impact with a winter storm warning. the on set of the storm is noon to 3:00 p.m. charlottesville and harrisenburg. late afternoon to the evening hours the snow will overspread the immediate metro, gaithersburg and rockville, potomac, bethesda. as we head to waldorf and nenardtown, they will see snow early on. later to 5:00, b.w.i. marshall and then philadelphia. if you need to go to the supermarket this evening go for it but be on the lookout for the slick spot on sidewalk and the roadways.

the future cast we pin point the timing as we head through the next 48 hours. 10:00 tomorrow morning, cloudy skies. move they have in the early afternoon hours. fredericksburg is heavier snow. d.c. metro, this shows around 3:00 in the afternoon. heaviest snow overspreading the area from the overnight tomorrow into early saturday morning. then maybe mixing with a little bit of rain around southern maryland, around leonardtown. we will continue to see the heavy snow moving in the afternoon hours to the day on saturday. we could see wind gusts up to 40, 50 miles per hour. heaviest wind gusts and the snow total between 12 to 22 inches in the immediate metro and the further west you go, 18 to 25. let's get a check on this evening's rush hour commute. we will head back to michelle. michelle: thank you, steve.

early results on the twitter poll. check them out after last night's response to snow do you feel the local government are ready for weekend storm? almost 90% of you think we are not ready. andrew is one of the minority and he says --